OK, I've been reading through the favourite Batfilm thread and it's rife with the sentiment that if the poll had been started a few months later, we'd all see a much more considered spread of voting. I thought it'd be interesting to see whether that's true, hence this thread.

If the mods think this is extraneous just delete the thread, I don't mind. I think it is worth seeing whether all this 'prisoner of the moment' talk is true or not though.

I know I'm in the minority here, but Batman Begins is my favorite. It felt like a personal, emotional journey, and it holds a grip on me every time I watch it. The movie also feels most like a Batman movie to me, as Gotham seems gritty and more surreal than a typical city, which it became in the following movies. I also think Christian Bale delivered his best performance in the trilogy here, the Batman voice being perfect, and Batman himself looking like a serious threat. One of the best scenes in the trilogy is the scene where he takes out the criminals on the dock, which is shown from the thugs' perspective, casting Batman in shadow, making him seem more monster than man. That's what Batman should be to me. Just my opinion though.

I know I'm in the minority here, but Batman Begins is my favorite. It felt like a personal, emotional journey, and it holds a grip on me every time I watch it. The movie also feels most like a Batman movie to me, as Gotham seems gritty and more surreal than a typical city, which it became in the following movies. I also think Christian Bale delivered his best performance in the trilogy here, the Batman voice being perfect, and Batman himself looking like a serious threat. One of the best scenes in the trilogy is the scene where he takes out the criminals on the dock, which is shown from the thugs' perspective, casting Batman in shadow, making him seem more monster than man. That's what Batman should be to me. Just my opinion though.

Begins until we see Batman standing in the building is as good as we will ever see from a Batman story. Its the best hour of any superhero movie...by far. American Entertainment at its finest. Neither TDK nor Rises have such a great stretch. But after it the movie falls in the traps of typical origin stories. It's still good , but the gap to me is too big.

the trilogy only got better by film, and even if TDKR could've been longer and some scenes more expanded on, I'm not going to put that as a mark on TDKR when it did have a time limit and Nolan tried to give us all that he could in one film.

Batman Begins for several reasons, Bale didn't overdo the voice in this one, Batman was actually intimidating, the docks scene is the best in the entire series and the journey in the film is fantastic. Not to me toon that this is the only film in the trilogy that really geeks like a Batman film to me.

Second place is the Dark Knight, definitely the best villain in Heath Ledger's Joker, done if the most jaw dropping moments in the series but its 20 minutes too long, they should have just cut the scenes with the boats and the Two Face ending just never really sat right with me

Last place is the Dark Knight Rises, while its an awesome film and definitely the best 3rd film in any comic book series, the plot of him not been Batman for 8 years bothers the hell out if me, the lack of Batman scenes there was too much focus on other characters and the fact that Batman doesn't really get to defeat Bane bothers be (as it did in Knightfall). It also features two of the worst performances in the whole series with Matthew Modine as Foley and Marion Cottilard as Miranda Tate. Again while I like the John Blake ending I don't like that this ended a Bond like potential series.

It's still Rises for me. It just ticked all the right boxes for me as a viewer.

I always found it difficult to choose between TDK and BB (still do) because they each have their strengths. I loved the personal journey and character exploration of Bruce in BB, and I felt it was a more 'Batman' film than TDK. But TDK had a much more exciting story, villain and overall sense of scope.

TDKR for me felt like the combination of the two strengths.

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Superman: "I can only tell you what I believe, Diana. humankind has to be allowed to climb to its own destiny. We can't carry them there."Flash: "But that's what she's saying. What's the point? Why should they need us at all?"Superman: "To catch them if they fall."

Best Story: Batman Begins - I liked the journey Bruce went on before becoming batman. I liked how he was trained by the person that was behind the attacks on Gotham.

Best Villan - Pretty simple, the Joker. However, they could've made Scarecrow more bad ass and the hallucinations were weak. Bane was awesome and Liam Neesen was fantastic as Ra's Al Ghul. Two Face was'nt given enough screen time, but Aaron Eckhart made the most out out of it.

Best Story: Batman Begins - I liked the journey Bruce went on before becoming batman. I liked how he was trained by the person that was behind the attacks on Gotham.

Best Villan - Pretty simple, the Joker. However, they could've made Scarecrow more bad ass and the hallucinations were weak. Bane was awesome and Liam Neesen was fantastic as Ra's Al Ghul. Two Face was'nt given enough screen time, but Aaron Eckhart made the most out out of it.

Best Action - The Dark Knight Rises.

What about best/favorite first, second, and third act?

Hands down for me, TDK had the best third act. The one two combination of the prewitt building scene(Batman vs the swat/Jokers thugs and his final showdown with the Joker) and the confrontation with Batman/Gordon vs Two-Face is beyond mesmerizing. Not to mention that ending. TDKR could have easily had this, but some of the things cut out really took away from what would have been an extremely epic climax. Plus Talia's odd death is really off-putting. Still, it's an amazing climax and I could see how for some it would top TDK.

Best second act would probably be a tie between TDK/BB. Might give the slight edge to BB.

I really, really love the first act to TDKR. I found the first act a brilliant and near perfect setup leading up to Bane defeating Batman and his impending takeover of Gotham. Right now I'd go with TDKR first act, but on a objective level I'd give it to BB. That first hour is really something to applaud.

I too find myself very drawn in by the first act of TDKR. It has a somberness and longing to it that felt very appropriate given how TDK ended.

It's tough for me to choose between BB and TDKR's first act. BB's first act is pretty much flawless to me. The only thing I can think of as a "negative" is in hindsight, how amazing would stuff like the scenic mountain shots and the ice sword fight have looked in IMAX?

They really just stepped up their game with both sequels in terms of bringing that larger than life quality.